Hi All

Last weekend me and the mrs went to the local Mini dealer and struck a deal with the sales man.

It was agreed than the outstanding balance would be taken over a 4 year finance plan.

One if the items in the deal was an upgrade from the 16" alloys to the 17" alloys FOC.

After some consideration this week i have decided to dip into the savings account and pay the balance cash.

So i telephone the dealer and informed them that the balance would be settled in cash and i would not require the finance. At this point in time i have not signed the credit agreement. All i have signed in a piece of paper that has the outstanding balance on.

At this point the sales man made some OH noises and said "we only upgraded those alloys because you we taking the car on finance" - this was never mentioned when making the deal. They are now questioning if they still include the 17" alloys in the package.

Can they now change thier mind on the deal based on how i settle the balance?

Surely if they change their mind they are changing the terms on the deal, i can change mine and say i dont want the car and get my deposit back. Ideally i dont want to do this since i like the car.

The deal is written down and signed by me and the sales man - it does say its conditional of taking a finance package.

How do i stand?

Anyone had a similar experience

Thanks

-- Ash

The law requires 3 main acts to take place in order for there to be a legal contract:

Offer
Acceptance
Consideration

Your made an offer to buy a car with 17" alloys

They accepted your offer

You provide consideration (in this case payment of the agreed value) in return for the dealer meeting your offer.

I would say in this case that the contract had been formed, and that the only thing remaining was for the acts of the parties to be executed.

You can only change the terms of a contract after it has been formed with the explicit consent of both parties.

There's a whole load more to this topic, but I've dealt with it all week and can't be @rsed to get much further into the ins and outs of it

ETA

I didn't see the bit about finance being conditional. It's the responsibility of each party to understand any contract they enter into, so by not taking finance your effectively in breach.

[Edited on 20/11/09 by StevieB]

It looks like you "agreed" as much as they did, now you want to change part of the agreement (i.e. not get finance) and they want to change a part (17" alloys). If the whole deal is conditiional on taking the finance package and now you're not going to, then surely all bets are off? Walk away if you want, but you want the car...

If it was all verbally agreed I think you may struggle... No evidence form your behalf.

BUT, as I understand it, all finance packages have a 14 day cooling off period from the point in time you sign to it.

So... if the wheels are being thrown in because they are getting a bit back from the finance company for getting you signed up, sign up to the credit, take the car and then tell the credit company you have changed your mind and want to settle the balance now

Mark

I can't see the problem here - you want to change details of the deal so they are following suit.

The above about paying the finance off is a VERY bad idea. You will no doubt end up paying more by doing this - probably more than taking the car as it is and buying a set of 17" wheels.

It has to be said though, that if you have problems with the car after you have bought it and you hit a wall with the dealer, you have more leverage with a finance company on your side than you do if you pay cash. I see it everyday...

quote:

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Originally posted by Paradoxia0
If it was all verbally agreed I think you may struggle... No evidence form your behalf.

BUT, as I understand it, all finance packages have a 14 day cooling off period from the point in time you sign to it.

So... if the wheels are being thrown in because they are getting a bit back from the finance company for getting you signed up, sign up to the credit, take the car and then tell the credit company you have changed your mind and want to settle the balance now

Mark

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I have it written down what the deal includes.

It then details the outstanding balance.

On no part of the paper work does it say that the deal is only offered based on the fact i agree to pay the outstanding balance via a finance agreement - or words to that effect.

"The deal is written down and signed by me and the sales man - it does say its conditional of taking a finance package."

I know this is about finance and contracts,but I remember reading how 17" wheels on the mini made the ride way to firm for road use, even the 16s were pretty stiff, but awful with 17s.......

i'm going in to the dealer tomorrow to have a chat with them. its still a friendly relationship so i'm sure we can come to an agreement.

Thanks chaps

They get a nice fee for arranging finance. They have offered you part of that back in the form of upgraded wheels. You decline the finance and they're probably right to take back the offer of the free upgrade.

Paying cash rather than taking the finance will save you a fair chunk of cash. You could use that towards the cost of the new wheels.

With regards to finance a while ago now, my sister bought a mini whilst i was away on finance so when i came home a week or so later i went down to the finance company and stated that i wanted to pay it all off , the counter assistant gave me the grand total including an interest charge upon which i informed her that she was in th wrong in adding the interest charge as i was paying it all off within the first month i think it was, after a few words with the manager who agreed i was right, it was done, no interest was paid as this was so stated in the finance regulations act at that time, if paid off in the first 4 weeks as far as i remenber may even have been longer.

Mike

quote:

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Originally posted by smart51
They get a nice fee for arranging finance. They have offered you part of that back in the form of upgraded wheels. You decline the finance and they're probably right to take back the offer of the free upgrade.

Paying cash rather than taking the finance will save you a fair chunk of cash. You could use that towards the cost of the new wheels.

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would this be sytners bmw/mini dealers in sheffield

was the deal with a mini dealer in Maltby per chance ?? if not there is a garage in Maltby only 15 miles away that only deals in Minis its part of the Douglas Paul Group I believe

You may have problems getting your deposit back, the dealers amy be well within their rights to keep it or at least part of it ?